vintage notebook tutorial{from the crafting chicks}

by @according2kelly on November 27, 2012

for the entire month of november we will be baking, sewing & crafting up a storm, preparing handmade gifts for this holiday season.

& the holidays are coming a wee bit earlier for a few lucky readers, thanks to our three amazing giveaways. be sure to head over to my facebook page for a chance to win a silhouette portrait, decoart paints & stencils, and michael’s gift card.

so dust off your sewing machine, & head on over to skip to my lou for some fabulous sewing projects.

Hey crafty cats! It’s so fun to here here with the Holiday Bake, Craft, and Sew event! It’s always fun to find and share ideas for inexpensive holiday gifts. I know this has been done before, but thought it would be tragic if this ideas was overlooked this holiday season. The great thing about a personalized notebooks from old storybooks is that there are endless possibilities of old books that with their old titles, can be very nostalgic, funny and personal. I love notebooks, I have MANY notebooks that serve many purposes. I write my to-do lists in them, grocery lists, ideas and I LOVE them. With my absolute obsession with journals and notebooks, it seemed fitting.

SUPPLIES

scissors

Cinch binding machine or other binding machine

Cinch binding coil either plastic or metal (for this I used the .75″ copper coil)

vintage children’s storybook or other book or choice

additional paper (I used a 40lb cream colored paper)

This Christmas record notebook was given to me last year by my dear friend Tanna! I would pay so much to have a vintage record cover like that!

STEP 1: Take the book apart. Carefully cut the pages as close to the middle of the binding as possible. Cut the cover away from the binding. Clean cuts look much better since those edges will show when the book is bound.

STEP 2: Take each piece of the book (you can include all pages or just some of the pages) and punch the holes in stacks of about 20. Line them up as close as possible so they match when put together.

STEP 3: Use one of the pages as a template and cut extra paper (for writing). Insert groups of blank pages in between the original pages to add character.

STEP 4: Add all pages to the binding coil.

STEP 5: Use the Cinch Binding Machine to close the clamps of the binding coil around the pages.

ENJOY!!!! Repeat and make a unique notebook each time!!! Find books that might in some way be relatable to certain friends. For example, my mother in-law loves horses and I happened to find an old book with horses on the cover. It was perfect!

THERE YOU HAVE IT…A COLORFUL, CUTE, and completely unique notebook for someone special!

about kirsten: Kirstin attended BYUI and Utah State and graduated with a business degree with an emphasis in marketing. She has been a professional photographer for the last ten years. Kirsten loves roller coasters, running rollerblading, crafting, going out with her hubby, playing and being silly with her 4 kids, organizing and photography. She used to dream of being on American Gladiators, but now dreams of being on The Martha Stewart Show. Her mind is constantly swimming in new ideas for crafts, marketing, business and of fun things to do.

baking, crafting & sewing along at home? don’t forget to play show & tell… upload your photos to our flickr group HERE. follow along with all of our featured bakers, crafters & sewers on twitter HERE, & tweet about the holiday-inspired “bake, craft & sew along” using the hashtag #bakecraftsew.